Doppelganger
by Sweet Cari
Summary: Sometimes, we are our worst enemy. *Set the summer before 02 starts.* Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Lately, I've been in a macabre mood lately, so I decided to take a shot at it by writing a horror story. It's kind of ooc for me since most of my fics are warm and fuzzy…Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and I'd like to see what you think by reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

...

**Doppelganger**

_Suffocation_

Air. He needed air. As he desperately gasped for breath, the pressure moved from his chest to his throat. He could feel a pair of hands make their way to his neck, compressing it, slowly cutting off his air supply.

In a panicked struggle, he tried shaking the intruder off, kicking and punching fiercely using only a free arm while the other fought back to keep the hands from crushing his windpipe, but this only motivated the killing intent, speeding up the unbearable smothering.

He opened his eyes seeing the outline of the attacker in the darkness. And something else… Looking up, trying to get somewhat of a glimpse of the assailant's face, he saw a pair of piercing blood-red eyes, glowing brightly as they stared right through him. It grinned wickedly at its victim. Its fanged teeth glistened in the pale moonlight.

Then, the creature slowly removed one of its hands from the young man's clammy neck and raised it, positioned to strike and-

Matt screamed in terror as he bolted awake. At that moment, his father rushed into the room and turned on the lights.

"What's wrong son?" he asked, "I've just gotten back from the TV station when I heard you scream and–"

"**Somebody tried to kill me**!" Matt cried, as he broke into a cold sweat, "I-it was choking me a-and when I looked up at the face, it had the eyes of a demon…"

"It's only a nightmare." assured the older man, "Nothing to worry about. It must've been that leftover mystery meat that you were eating when I went out to lunch." he added with a smirk.

Seeing that the joke failed to calm his son down, he put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Matt, you're worried about T.K. aren't you?"

Matt's eyes lit up at the mention of his younger brother's name and nodded slightly.

"When your mother and I broke up, you immediately started having bad dreams about something bad happening to either you or T.K. But now looking back at it, you …"

As his father continued, Matt began to recall how he was always there for T.K., especially when the two brothers were first transported to the Digital World; Matt was always risking his life to ensure T.K.'s safety.

_But that's all in the past now, _Matt thought, as he wiped off the sweat from his brow, _I said so myself, 'He didn't me to protect him anymore'. Besides, T.K.'s got Patamon to take care him now._

"Matt? Are you listening?"

"Uh… y-yeah..."

Hiroaki let out a tired sigh, "It's just nerves, Matt. You're nervous about T.K. and your mother moving back to Odaiba when school starts again. Nothing to get worked up about, the move will go smoothly and they'll be fine."

"Besides," he added with a grin, "you'll get to see your brother a lot more often."

"You're right. Thanks Dad."

"Good. Now get some sleep son." With that, Hiroaki stood up, turned off the lights and left the room, closing the door behind him.

For about an hour, Matt couldn't fall back asleep. He just stared up at the ceiling in darkness, thinking about the nightmare and the horrific thing that had tried to murder him. The eerie glow of the eyes, its wicked grin, it seemed to be more than just stress.

_What does it mean? _the blonde thought, _It seemed too vivid to just be a dream… No, Dad's right, I'm just concerned about T.K. that's all! _

As he cleared the dream from his mind and began to relax, Matt finally drifted into slumber.

...

Once again, he bolted awake. He had the exact same nightmare that plagued him earlier, only much worse.

Coughing as he swallowed gulps of air, Matt ran his hand up his throat. It was sore.

_I've got to be imagining this! _He thought in disbelief, _The dream's getting to my head… I...I really need to wake up!_

Matt got up out of bed and quietly snuck into the bathroom. He felt around the walls for the light switch and turned them on as he stood in front of the mirror.

He immediately went pale, frozen in terror as he stared in shock at his reflection.

On his neck were finger-shaped red marks, as it throbbed in pain with each pulse of his palpitating heartbeat.

Clamping a hand over his mouth, Matt fought back the urge to vomit as he began to back away slowly from the person looking right back at him.

"T-this can't be happening…I-it couldn't…it's not…" Matt muttered as he sank to the tile floor, hugging his knees in attempt to ease his anxieties, "I-it's all in my head….it has to be…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Doppelganger**

Suspicion

"Boy, it's too hot out here….It's not even July yet…"

"Oh, stop complaining, Tai, we're not hiking in a desert."

"I know, Kari, but still…" He suddenly paused and looked up at the sky, lost in thought.

"What's wrong, Tai?"

"I wonder how Agumon and the other Digimon are doing…I mean, we gave up our crest power to free the Sovereigns…since then, the Digital gate's closed…"

Kari paused at the mention of the Digiworld, lowering her head sadly.

"More importantly," Tai added, "even though we're a close group, we've been growing distant lately since we defeated the Dark Masters. Sure, we have our own lives and troubles to deal with, so what's holding us back?"

"Well…"

As Kari was about to answer her brother something caught her eye.

"Hey, isn't that Matt over there?" she asked, pointing a finger out at an incoming crowd.

Tai glanced over to where his sister was pointing towards and observed the people passing by them and at first didn't see anything until he saw a patch of golden hair out of the corner of his eye.

"You're right, Kari! It is Matt!" Tai exclaimed as he watched the blonde make his way through the crowd but when he took a closer look at his friend, he realized that something was wrong.

The teenaged loner swayed and wobbled as he walked, it seemed that it was taking all his strength just to keep going; in addition he kept looking around as if he were in some kind of danger as he slowly made his way to a nearby bench and sat there.

"Matt! Hey Matt!" the siblings called out, but he didn't even look up.

They tried again but still Matt did not respond.

Tai was getting angry. "He's got some nerve ignoring us." he said, clenching his fists with rage.

"Maybe he didn't hear us." Kari suggested, "Why don't we go over to see if he's alright…"

Tai nodded in agreement and as the crowd dispersed they approached him.

"Matt? Matt!"

When Matt still didn't answer, Tai lost his temper.

"THAT'S IT!" the chocolate-haired brunette shouted at the top of his voice, "MATT! WAKE UP!" with that, Tai grabbed Matt's shoulders and began to shake him furiously.

Kari tried stopping her brother, but they both halted when Matt let out a terrified scream.

"G-GET AWAY FROM ME!" he cried as he pushed Tai away from him, knocking him off his feet. "D-don't hurt me…don't hurt me…"he muttered as he shielded his head with his arms.

"Matt, snap out of it! It's us, Tai and Kari!" Tai yelled, "It's alright. We're not gonna hurt you…"

Hearing his friend's outcry, Matt slowly came back to his senses.

"I-I'm sorry, you guys…"

As he began to calm down, the two siblings could not believe that this was Matt.

His blonde hair was ratty and unkempt, his usual pale skin looked a ghostly white, there were prominent dark rings under his eyes, and his clothes were wrinkled and baggy.

"What's wrong with you, Matt?" Tai said, as he sat on the bench beside his friend, "You look terrible… If it's something bothering you, my sister and I are always here to help."

"I don't want to talk about it…Even if I told you, both of you wouldn't believe me…"

"Oh, come on, I thought you're over this whole 'keeping-everything-to-myself' thing!" Tai growled, grabbing Matt by the shirt collar, "Why I oughta -"

Tai readied a punch when suddenly, something was holding him back.

It was Kari.

"That's enough, Tai!" she said with a calm but firm tone, "Whatever it was that scared him, he obviously doesn't want to speak about it, so we shouldn't force him to tell us!"

Tai opened his mouth to protest but he knew that his sister was right, glaring at Matt, he reluctantly released his grip.

…..

Meanwhile, at the Kamiya residence, Mrs. Kamiya had just finished cleaning the all of the rooms of the apartment.

"Whew," she said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, "I never thought I could get the job done without the kids helping. Then again, Tai would've made up some excuse about not being able to do it…at least Kari always helps without complaining."

She took a look at the clock hanging on the wall. It was ten minutes past four.

_Wow! I have just enough time to go grocery shopping! Tonight, I'll treat everyone to a special dinner! _

Having made up her mind, she put on her shoes, grabbed her purse and left the apartment.

…..

By six-thirty, Yuuko returned home, carrying the groceries but the minute she closed the door from behind, a horrific sight greeted her.

Dishes and glasses were in pieces in the kitchen, the chairs and the table were knocked over, the pantry doors were opened and its contents were spilled on the floor, family pictures smashed out of their frames, and the mirrors practically shattered. In the bedrooms, clothes out of their closet sprawled in piles, the mattresses thrown off the bed, and drawer doors pulled out of the hinges and the sheets and blankets almost torn to shreds.

Taking a closer look at the scenery, she realized that the burglary was not a forced entry, it look like somebody had just came in and destroyed the place.

When Yuuko asked one of the neighbors if they heard someone break in, they answered, "No, it sounded like your children came home early from their stroll and began playing soccer and left."

"Don't be ridiculous!" she said, skeptical that her own son and daughter causing such destruction.

Returning back to the apartment, as she carefully stepped around the broken glass in the living room, something rolled up to her feet.

It was Tai's soccer ball.

As Yuuko picked it up, she saw something near one of the broken mirrors. Approaching the mirror, she gasped as she stared at the mirror in shock.

Lodged into the mirror, was Kari's camera.


	3. Chapter 3

**Doppelganger**

Materialization

Mimi let out a heavy sigh.

_This is it._

Picking up her pink luggage bags, she exited the taxi and reluctantly followed her parents into the Odaiba Airport. As the family entered the spacious building, her steps grew slower, heavier, like weights chained to her ankles, trying to hold her back, preventing her from leaving. Unshed tears brimmed in her soft brown eyes, stinging them, her vision becoming a painted blur, like a faded memory on the verge of loss.

_I should be happy for Dad… He's got a job in New York…America…the place where dreams become…become…_

She stopped. Her lips quivered as the lump in her throat grew more unbearable, her breathing heavy.

_Who am I kidding? _she thought as tears glistened down her face, _I may never see my friends again! I'll never see Palmon again! I wish I didn't have to leave! _

As she struggled to fight back more tears, wiping away the tearstains, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Mimi!"

She looked around and saw the remaining seven Digidestined, her friends, running toward her.

"Y-you guys! W-why are all of you here?"

"We wanted to give you a farewell present…" explained Tai, "We were planning to give it to you when all of us found out that you're moving away…but we kept putting it off…"

When Tai finished speaking, Kari slowly walked up to Mimi, handing her a small letter.

Carefully opening the letter, Mimi discovered that the note inside was what all of the Digidestined thought of her:

_You may have been spoiled, but your heart was left untainted._-Tai Kamiya

_We may not have spoken to each other much, but your presence always gave me a warm feeling._-Matt Ishida

_You and I stuck like glue since we were the only girls of the group at the time. No matter what, you will always be my best friend._ -Sora Takenouchi

_My computer habits annoyed you, but no amount of curiosity could make me forget who my real friends are. -_Izzy Izumi

_After all that's happened since summer camp, I can't believe that you're leaving so soon. You're one of the sweetest girls I've ever known. I wish you the best of luck on your trip and stay in America._ -Joe Kido

_I'm gonna miss you when you leave, you were like a big sister to me._-T.K. Takaishi

_Your honesty holds no bounds. We will all think fondly of you._-Kari Kamiya

"E-everyone..." Mimi whispered, slowly lifting her teary gaze from the note, "I don't know what to say…I'm …speechless…Thank you so much! I'll treasure it!"

"Mimi! Hurry up sweetheart! Our plane leaves in fifteen minutes!" her parents cried out.

"I'm coming!" she answered, "Just give me a minute!"

Putting the note back into the letter, Mimi slipped it into her pocket and knelt down to one of her luggage bags, slowly pulling out a brown paper bag.

"Guys," she said, walking closer towards them, "I also have a gift for all of you."

Reaching into the bag, she took out seven necklaces.

The tiny chains were uniquely crafted in either fine gold or silver, with a jeweled pendant hanging from each one.

Smiling softly, Mimi walked up to her friends and placed each necklace into the palms of their hands.

"These are to remember me by." she said after handing out the last one, but before she could say more, an announcement rang through the airport.

"Attention! All passengers boarding for New York must report to the departure gate immediately!"

Hearing this, Mimi quickly grabbed her things, rushing to catch up with her parents, but not before shouting out a final farewell to the Digidestined.

"I promise to keep in touch! Good-bye and thank you for everything!"

As Mimi ran to departure gate, it seemed as if the entire building was glowing. It became brighter and brighter and just as the light engulfed all in its way, she woke up.

Her eyelids flickered as a sea of consciousness poured into her body. Peering over towards her alarm clock, it was still too early in the morning to get up. Settling back into the soft caresses of her bed, Mimi thought about the dream. This wasn't the first time she dreamed it. It was becoming more and more frequent. Homesickness wasn't the source of why the memory played back in her slumber, it was something else. What was it?

Unable to fall back asleep, she arose from the bed and walked towards her desk where her laptop was sitting and turned it on.

Checking her e-mail, all of the unread mail was from her friends back in Japan. All were labeled as **urgent**.

Ice, cold chills ran down her spine as she read each of the e-mails word for word. The messages saying the exact same thing:

'_Mimi, _

_Something terrible has happened! Our apartment was ransacked and practically destroyed! Mom and Dad think that I had something to do with it...since my things were found as sources of evidence…I can't say much more since they're taking away my computer privileges…'_

Shutting off the computer, she stared at the blank monitor with wide eyes.

_What's going on? Who would do such a thing?_

With her mind filled with dread but relief that nobody was harmed, Mimi got back into bed and drifted into an uneasy sleep, completely unaware of a figure standing at the foot of her bed, its fangs gleamed as a sudden, eerie lightning illuminated the room, followed by a sickening crash of thunder.

…..

How was that? Don't forget to review to see what you think! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Doppelganger**

In Our Image

"_Shall we do it now? I'm tired of waiting, why did you hold me back? If you would have just let me have my way-…"_

"_She's right, we've waited for too long now, why can't we just-,"_

"_Patience, my friends, the timing must be right, we must first prepare for the arrival."_

…

By this point, the usually rebellious blonde had given up trying to protest about the destruction of the apartment to his father because every time Matt tried to explain that he was not responsible for the vandalism, the older man simply lashed out at him in rage, pointing to Matt's old harmonica and his guitar lying nearby, and claiming they were the weapons that had destroyed the valuables. He refused to hear more 'lies' from his son.

He had just plopped onto his bed, exhausted from sweeping, polishing, and cleaning up the apartment and was about to fall asleep when he heard his father calling him. Knowing that ignoring his dad would only lengthen the grounding, Matt got up, and reluctantly went into the kitchen, where his father was waiting for him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Since you've been pretty helpful cleaning up the mess you made," Hiroaki said in a calm tone, "I'm going to ease up on your punishment. I just want you to do one more thing for me, and I'll let you take a break."

"Um...what do I need to do?" Matt asked, surprised by this sudden change of heart.

"Well, son, I have just ordered a new full-body mirror, I've already gotten it out of the box and pieced everything in place, and what you need to do is attach it to the hanger outside the bathroom door…and when you're done, I'll order take-out for us tonight!"

Hiroaki then pointed to where the mirror was at. It was leaning against the kitchen counter, but showed no signs of slipping.

When Matt picked up the mirror, he was surprised by how heavy it was.

_It feels like it weighs a ton! _He thought with a groan, walking slowly and carefully making his way out of the kitchen to the chosen destination.

Hooking the mirror in place, Matt sighed as he stared at his reflection, the finger-like marks on his neck were practically healed, but seeing them brought up the memory that he had tried shutting out.

_I can't figure it out! _Matt thought with frustration,

_What does it all mean? No sooner do I have a bad dream about being choked to death , my best friend thinks I'm being a jerk and then I get blamed for something I didn't do!_

He sighed heavily, pressing his palms against the cool glass, once again staring back into the tired eyes of his reflection.

Suddenly, Matt felt a tight grip on his hands, his eyes widened with horror when he saw that it was his own _reflection_, fastening its hold as it grinned evilly at him.

Matt struggled and fought, trying to break free but the image had the upper hand, Matt wanted to scream but when he opened his mouth to cry out for help, no sound came out.

Then, the reflection began to slowly pull Matt _into_ the mirror.

Matt watched helplessly as his hands and wrists were dragged in, his heart pounding wildly like a drum stimulating the call to battle.

The image then gave a quick jerk, throwing Matt off guard and he stumbled forwards right into the glass.

"Matt! Son! Have you set up the mirror yet?"

Not getting a response, Hiroaki left the living room and headed towards his son's room, opening the door, but Matt wasn't there. When he walked towards the bathroom door, he saw that the mirror was in its rightful position but the imagery reflecting from it was warped and distorted.

As Hiroaki stood baffled by the mirror's bizarre change, he looked down by the door and his mouth fell open in utter disbelief.

Lying in front of the door's edge, were Matt's indoor slippers.

…

"Matt…Matt…"

A strange voice rang out into the distance voids of Matt's unconsciousness, it made his head throb each time the voice called out his name.

"Matt…come on…wake up…."

Coming back to his senses, Matt groaned as pain surged throughout his body. As his eyelids flickered, he could see the faint outline of a person standing over him. It didn't take long for the lone blonde to recognize the figure right away.

"T-T.K.?"

"The one and only," the younger boy said, helping his brother sit up, "I'm glad you're okay, Big Bro."

"Ugh, my head hurts..." Matt groaned, rubbing his temple, "T.K., w-where are we?"

"I'm not sure."

Looking around, the two brothers realized something odd about the area. The sky above them was blotted with multiple colors creating strange hues; there was no sun, no moon, not even stars but there were shadows, dancing around in eerie shapes and sizes.

"But wherever we are, Matt, it's not the Digital World…"

The ground felt slimy and felt like it was breathing as the siblings stood upon it. Continuing to survey the strange land, they saw nearby was the dilapidated remains of an abandoned city, and six people running toward them.

"MATT! T.K.! IS THAT YOU?" one of them shouted out.

"It's Tai!" cried T.K. as the brunette leader came closer into view.

"And the other Digidestined!" Matt added.

"Well, since we're all together again," Tai said once he and the others caught up with him as he panted for breath, but before he could say more, Mimi cut him off.

"WHERE ARE WE!" the pink-haired girl shrieked at the top of her voice, "one minute I was in New York and the next minute I find you guys and to top it all off, WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!"

Izzy sighed, "If my computer privileges weren't taken from me, I could use my laptop to analyze our location."

"_How right you are,"_ came an eerie voice.

"Who's there?" Tai yelled, his eyes darting around the scene "Show yourself, unless you're a coward!"

The voice just smirked at the display of courage. Then, the smirk turned into bouts of maniacal laughter that was joined by other voices laughing, filling the air with piercing cackles.

Just as the Digidestined thought they'd go mad, the laughter ceased as quickly as it began.

Then, the eight teens saw several shadows in front of them materialize and taking on a human form, as they watched mouth agape when the shadows took on familiar appearances.

_Their own appearances. _

Although the eight copies looked exactly like the Digidestined, there was something different about them. Their eyes. The pupils were long and slit like cat's eyes and there was a cold, soulless, dead look as well.

"_Surprised to see us?" _the cloned leader sneered, _"You shouldn't be…"_

"What exactly are all of you?" T.K. shouted with fists clenched.

"_It's simple…" _answered the duplicate T.K., _"We were created by you."_

"_That's right, brother," _Matt's copy stated,_ "and we have you to thank for our existence."_

The blonde then pointed a finger right at his counterpart. Everyone stared at Matt in shock.

"What?" Matt cried in confusion, "How could I have helped by creating you?"

"_It's very simple yet logical," _explained Kari, _"When you first came to the Digital World, the negative energy that you kept inside you since your parents broke up began to take on a life of its own. Also, when the Dark Masters were causing chaos, it that very same energy that trapped you and Sora in that cave. You may have removed the darkness that had tried to absorb you but combined with the negative energy, it managed to survive. So, a small portion of it managed to crawl back inside you and live off of you like a parasite. As you made contact with the others, you inadvertently transferred part of the dark energy to your friends."_

"_It also became easier to grow when all of you gave up your crest power to Azulongmon. Knowing that we'd eventually forced out of your bodies, we took shelter in the mirrors, thus taking on your appearances, which led to the creation of this little universe. In other words, you, Matt Ishida, served as the catalyst for our birth."_

"I-if that's true, w-what are you going to do to us?" stuttered Joe.

"_Isn't it obvious?" _Mimi hissed, _"We're tired of living as your shadows, so we have brought you here to __**kill**__ each one of you. That way, we will live out your lives in the Real World."_

"_We had the option to kill you earlier, but instead, we decided to frame you in order for your parents to distrust you."_ Izzy said staring coldly at the quivering group.

The clone Sora then removed something from the belt loop of her skirt.

Her counterpart's digivice.

"_I'm afraid that these little trinkets won't be of much use here," _she said, tightening her grip on it,_ "and hiding behind your little __**pets**__ can't save you this time!"_

"_Enough chit-chat!" _snapped Tai, his cat-like eyes glowing red with hate, _"It's time we showed them what we really are…"_

-To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

**Doppelganger**

Pursuit

After the cloned leader had spoken, Sora flinched at the coldness of his tone and reattached the digivice back onto her skirt's belt loop and said, _"Yes. It is time." _

The others nodded silently in agreement and they each began to slowly walk backwards away from the Digidestined. It was the perfect opportunity for the eight teens to make their escape and flee to a safer area, but the piercing gaze of the look-alikes kept them frozen at the spot like a pack of wolves ready for the kill.

The clones stopped after taking ten steps backwards and stood there for several minutes, their eyes still fixated on the Digidestined, their cold stares chilling them to the very core.

"_Now, let's begin." _Tai said, closing his eyes, his features softening in relaxation,

"_We must concentrate as a whole."_

The remaining seven without any hesitation followed his instructions and proceeded to concentrate.

As the Digidestined watched in eerie silence, a sudden, black aura began to emit from the duplicates, along with a new sound.

The sound of bones cracking.

Groaning slightly, the counterparts' hands began to contort, the fingers going into spasms as they lost muscle and grew in length. Their nails darkened and extended, changing into long, thin, black claws. Their breathing became labored as another mutation began. A foul-smelling drool oozed from their mouths, sizzling into the ground. Their teeth molded into shape and sharpened, transforming into hideous rows of pearly white fangs.

"_That feels a lot better…."_ T.K. said flexing his claws as the black aura began to fade away from him and his comrades, _"I've waited a long time, itching to __**try **__them out."_

"This doesn't change anything!" Tai shouted at the clones, "You may look like us, but you're not made of flesh and bone like we are!"

With that, Tai charged at them, ignoring his friends' pleas to stop. When he got closer, he readied his hand into a fist and punched his counterpart in the jaw.

But he didn't even flinch.

"_What was __**that**__ supposed to be?"_

Tai didn't have any time to react when he felt a painful blow to the face. The force of the punch sent the brunette flying backwards, skidding to the ground in a heap.

"TAI!"

Kari and Sora rushed to his aid to help him up, they gasped at the damage that the courageous leader had received.

His entire right cheek was bruised a bright purple with blood dripping from his nose and mouth.

_Those things…_ Kari thought as Joe and the others came to see how bad her brother's injuries were, _they have an evil that I've never felt so strongly before! A…__**demonic**__ evil…_

The young girl felt panic arise in her chest. Slowly, she turned and saw the clones running towards them at alarming speed.

"RUN!" she cried,

Immediately, the other Digidestined took heed of her warning and fled to the remains of the city nearby.

"Let's split up!" said Tai, looking back at the fast-approaching enemy, "If we do that, they'll have a harder time finding us!"

"But Tai," protested Izzy, "What if we-"

"TRUST ME!"

As the eight Digidestined ran off in many directions, the clones stopped running and watched them flee into various parts of the city.

"_So, they want to play a game…" _Matt sneered, _"This makes the hunt more thrilling!"_

"_No it doesn't!" _T.K. shouted, _"Now that they'd divided themselves up, we'll never find them!"_

"_TRY FINDING THEM!" _hollered Tai with bared fangs, _"Or am I going have only __**seven **__members of the team to keep in control?"_

The leader shifted his eyes towards the older blonde.

"_And you. Don't think that you have it easy just because you're second in command." _

"_Whatever," _Matt said, shrugging his shoulders, _"Your petty threats can't tell me what to do. I'm my own man."_

"_FINE THEN!" _snarled Tai, _"Just don't come crying to me when you find out that the job is too much for you to handle!"_

"_Hmph! I don't need you," _the blonde said in a menacing tone, _"I don't need anybody to help me! I'll kill them all myself!"_

With that, he left the group, running as shouted over his shoulder,

"_You'll see! YOU'LL ALL SEE!"_

"_Who needs him…" _grumbled Tai, turning his attention the remaining members, _"What are you waiting for? Search for them!"_

Panicked, the six clones scattered throughout the city, looking for their human counterparts.

"_Now the chase is on."_

…

Matt's running started to slow down due to exhaustion and the slimy ground under his bare feet, which made it harder to run without slipping but this didn't matter to him at all.

He wanted to get away. Needed to get away. From everything. Make it disappear as if none of it ever happened. But he knew it was useless.

The words once more rang in his head, he kept denying what he had heard, but he knew it was the truth.

_I didn't conquer the darkness in my heart…I gave it to my friends and contaminated them with my poison…I was the catalyst…_

His foot snagged onto something sticking out of the ground, causing him to fall forward into the moist dirt.

Getting up and brushing the gunk off of him, Matt turned around and saw that it was a rusted, metal pipe that had tripped him.

_It may not do a lot of good against those…creatures…_he thought, pulling it out from the ground, looking it over, _But at least I have some form of defense…_

He paused at the thought.

_What am I thinking? None of us stands a chance against them, we're stuck in this strange place where our digimon can't help us and it's all thanks to me! _

_To me…_

Tears threatened to fall and Matt blinked furiously in attempt to hold them back, tightening his grip on the pipe for support.

_No! Stop it! Crying never solves anything! I will not cry! I will not-_

But his mental outcry came too late.

Matt sank to his knees in defeat, caving into his emotions, the warm, salty tears glistening as they cascaded freely down his pale face splashing into the wet soil.

_All of this is entirely __**my**__ fault! _he thought, his breathing weakening into quiet sobs, _None of this would've happened if I hadn't let the breakup of my family get to me! I was right with what I said, 'Seven's a luckier number than eight.' _

A sudden breeze ran through his golden locks, chilling him to the bone as he started to shiver.

Remembering that the clones were on the move to hunt them all down, Matt got up, clutching the pipe with one hand, wiping his eyes and nose with the back of the other and hurried off, searching for a safe haven.

…

"I don't know Izzy, I mean; it looks like it won't provide much protection, not to mention I can still smell the stenches coming from it."

"I understand the protection part perfectly, Joe but now's not the time to be a hypochondriac!"

The blue-haired boy opened his mouth to argue, when the pair suddenly heard footsteps heading towards them.

"I-it's them!"

"Quick!" Izzy ordered, prying open the lid, "Get inside!"

Mustering his courage, Joe helped Izzy climb into the dumpster, hopping inside with him and silently closing the lid above them.

Coal-black eyes surveyed the area, searching for the slightest sign of movement.

"_Hmmm….that's strange…I thought for sure I heard voices coming from here…"_

"_Hey! Four-eyes! Did you find them?"_

Joe lowered his glasses in disgust as the Izzy duplicate ran up to meet him.

"_What does it look like, Poindexter? I just got here…"_

"_All I'm asking is did you see two of them run by here?"_

Joe just stared at him.

"_I don't know…"_

"_What do you mean, 'you don't know'?"_

"_I meant what I said, so don't expect to get any help from me!"_

Izzy scowled, flexing his claws in agitation.

"_I don't believe you." _

"_Fine then," _Joe said, turning away from the redhead heading off in another direction, _"if you don't believe me that's your problem not mine."_

"_YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM!" _Izzy roared, _"You know exactly where they went off to and you're not telling me so that way, you can take credit for when you kill them!"_

Joe just ignored the redhead's angry rant as he walked on; Izzy finally got fed up with him and stormed off.

When the sound of footsteps faded away, the Bearers of Knowledge and Reliability opened the lid a crack, to be sure that the clones had left.

"Joe, could you believe what I've just heard?"

"What? I was worrying about them finding us!"

"I mean, I think I've found a way on how we can beat them!"

"Izzy," Joe said, cleaning some smudge off his glasses, "have you forgotten that all of us have SEPERATED?"

"Calm down! They might come back after hearing your outburst!"

Joe immediately clammed up, closing the lid above them as he sat in the dark, listening intently to Izzy's plan.

…

T.K. stopped to catch his breath, resting up against a brick wall, panting heavily.

_All of us can't keep running forever...Sooner or later, we'll have to face up to them…The darkness…_

He gritted his teeth in anger, remembering how Patamon sacrificed himself as Angemon to defeat their first enemy, Devimon, years ago in the Digital World, leaving a permanent scar on the young boy.

His thoughts turned to when the creatures explained how they came to existence because his older brother had nurtured the darkness with his depression.

_I refuse to believe what those monsters say! They're wrong! Matt doesn't break that easily!_

After resting for about five minutes, T.K. was on the move.

Just around the corner of the wall, he came across an alley when he heard someone coming right behind him.

He quickly turned around and found himself staring into the eyes of his brother, holding the pipe over his head like a bat.

Matt gasped and dropped the pipe in realization of what might have happened if his brother didn't look behind him.

"T.K., I-I could've killed you…" he said, his voice quivering as he shuddered, "I-I thought that you were one of them…"

"Relax, it's me," the younger blonde assured, "I don't have claws protruding from my fingertips…"

Matt chuckled when T.K. held his hands up as proof that he was the real thing.

"Umm…T.K.?"

"What's wrong, Big Bro?"

"D-do you believe what those things said earlier…?" Matt asked, bending down to pick up the fallen pipe.

"No. They're lying."

Matt was surprised at first by his brother's response, but he lowered his head in remorse.

"Well, actually, they were telling the truth."

Wicked cackling echoed throughout the area, the brothers turned and saw two red eyes peering out at them in a darkened corner of the alley. Then, the glow of the eyes moved into the light, revealing the solitary member of the eight copies.

"_Well, well, looks like I got myself a double prize."_

"T.K., stay behind me." Matt ordered, gripping the pipe tightly in both hands, "I'll try holding him off…"

"_Heheheh… do you really think that you can stop me with just a __**stick**__? Pathetic."_

"_But then again,"_ he said, licking his claws eagerly, _"I always wondered what __**human blood**__ tasted like!"_

He charged at them, teeth bared and claws ready for the kill.

Matt swung the pipe.

A horrifying shriek filled the air and the sound of metal cracking.

The evil twin fell to the ground, clutching his head as he writhed in pain, spitting and hissing like a wounded cat.

The pipe had snapped in two upon contact with the creature, rendering it useless.

Dropping the remains of the pipe, Matt and T.K. fled as fast as they could out of the alley when they heard the clone scream,

"_THIS __**IS'NT**__ OVER!"_

Followed by the sound of teeth gnashing and metal breaking.

…

"I don't think I can keep going anymore," Mimi groaned, "We've been running and walking for hours!"

"We have to keep moving," said Sora, "Those things are after us!"

"Tai, do you think that the others are okay?"

"They'll be fine, Kari. We just need to have faith in them."

The four soon came across an open gap in the city and an old garbage dumpster propped up nearby against one of the buildings.

Looking around, they saw two figures with their backs rested against the dumpster, both panting heavily.

"It's T.K. and Matt!" Mimi cried and she called out to them.

When the two brothers answered back, they rushed over to the dumpster and reunited with them.

"We've just escaped from one of them," explained T.K. in-between breaths, "Matt managed to injure it when it tried to attack us, but at the cost of the weapon …"

"Thank goodness that you're both alright." Sora said, sighing in relief.

"Yeah," Mimi added, and then her heart suddenly filled dread when she remembered the missing remainder of their team.

"B-but what about Joe and Izzy? D-do you think that they were able to get away too?"

They suddenly heard the lid of the dumpster open; they shook with fear until two familiar faces appeared from beneath the lid.

Joe and Izzy were relieved to see that the other Digidestined had all managed to get away unharmed, they quickly told them to get into the dumpster to avoid being discovered by the creatures.

Tai, Matt, Sora, T.K., and Kari obeyed and joined them inside, Mimi refused to move at first, but was able to put her worry about staining her clothes aside as Izzy took her by the hand and helped her climb in.

There was nothing inside except for a few boxes that were all resting in one corner of the dumpster.

"Everyone," Izzy said as he pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and turned it on, "when Joe and I first went into hiding in here, our copies encountered each other and an argument ensued and they split up."

"But that's not all, what I first noticed about the clones is their lack of teamwork, the only time they cooperated was when they transformed. Also, when we first met them, Mimi's copy stated that they were our shadows, which means they are the opposites of us…"

"Think about the qualities of our crests: Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Reliability, Sincerity, Hope and Light. Thus, the opposites are: Fear, Enmity, Hatred, Ignorance, Distrust, Hypocrisy, Despair and Darkness."

Tai spoke up, "So, what you're saying is that their traits are preventing them from working together?"

Bam.

"Guys, did you hear something?" Kari asked, moving closer to her brother.

"Don't worry, Sis, it was probably just your-,"

BAM.

**BAM.**

Izzy quickly shone his flashlight in the direction of the noise, revealing long, black claws tearing into the dumpster.

"They… found us…." he cried, almost dropping the flashlight in horror.

-To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

**Doppelganger**

There can be only One

"They…found us…"

Suddenly, large dents began to impact upon the lid and every angle of their sanctuary, forcing the Digidestined to huddle closer and tighter, to avoiding being crushed.

The sound of metal being pried open rang through their ears as light from outside slowly emerged into the darkness, gazing toward the source of the light, their terror accelerated as they found themselves staring into the eye of one of their doubles, the eye tinted with a blood-red aura glistened with malice as it loomed its gaze upon its cowering prey within the tomb.

"I'M HAVING A NIGHTMARE!" Mimi screamed, her voice weakening with horror,

"T-this is all a bad dream…It'll all g-go away! I-I just need to w-wake u-up!"

She covered her face with her hands and began to sob violently into Sora's chest, who was sitting nearby. The tomboy pulled Mimi into a hug, in an attempt to comfort her friend and herself.

As the continuous noise clamored their failing barrier, various thoughts started running through T.K.'s mind, while he listened to his fellow comrades' cries and whimpers of despair in the pitch darkness with the feeling of claustrophobia setting in.

The light from Izzy's flashlight snapped T.K. out his brief trance as he watched the redhead wave it frantically towards the sounds that pounded against their eardrums. It briefly shone brightly upon the boxes that were resting in the unoccupied area of the dumpster.

T.K.'s eyes widened with sudden realization.

He snatched the flashlight from Izzy's hands and quickly crawled away from the group towards the other side.

"T.K., w-what are you doing? T.K.!"

The Bearer of Hope ignored his friends' shouts and began to knock down the boxes from out of the corner. Removing the final box, he shone the flashlight and his mouth dropped open.

A secret tunnel was concealed behind the boxes that had somehow been integrated with the building it was resting against, and from the darkness; he could see a faint light in the distance from outside.

A light that lit the way to freedom from their _premature burial_.

Just as T.K. was about announce their chance of escape, Kari let out a shrill scream, he shone the flashlight in the direction of Kari's scream and saw her eyes wide with fear as she pulled herself closer to her brother.

Shining the light towards where Kari was staring at, T.K. saw that a clawed, bony hand had penetrated the metal, trying to claw at its would-be victim inside.

Mustering up what little courage he had left, T.K. quickly told the others of his discovery of their chance of escape and one by one, they followed him through the hidden tunnel, crawling as fast as they can from out of the metal coffin.

…

Meanwhile, the eight doubles continued clawing and punching at what once looked like a dumpster, when the Kari clone suddenly stopped and told the others to cease their labors.

"_Something's not right." _She said, narrowing her eyes in suspicion,

"_What's not right, sister?" _asked her brother.

"_Just…listen…"_

They paused and obeyed her request.

"_That's funny…I don't hear anything, Nothing at-" _

Tai stopped mid-sentence and gasped.

"_Matt! T.K.! Tear open the lid!"_

"_ should we?"_

"_Because, I __**ordered**__ you both to do so…" _Tai answered, with venom dripping off every word.

"_W-we better do what he says Matt," _suggested T.K. nervously, _"H-he might be onto something…"_

The older blonde scowled at his brother's cowardice, and reluctantly agreed to help him carry out their leader's command.

Giving the lid a sharp yank, the brothers tore it off and peered inside.

"_Ummm…Tai… T-they're gone…" _T.K. muttered his skin drained to a pallid color, making him look more inhuman.

"_YES! WE DID IT!" _the brunette shouted with ghoulish jeer,

"_No wonder I didn't hear any screaming, we finally killed them all! Oh, I can't wait to see their mangled, bloody bodies-"_

"_You don't understand, Tai," _interrupted Matt, his usual cold demeanor slowly diminishing,

"_They're gone…as in __**'they escaped'**__."_

…

Panting heavily, the Digidestined were relieved that the tunnel had lead them away from the graveyard city, but they couldn't get too comfortable quite yet.

"We've got to get out of here!" Tai yelled, "We can't keep running forever!"

Sora agreed, "He's right, without our digimon, we're pretty much toast against those things, since we can't even lay a finger on them!"

"Hmmm…I think I have a theory, you guys…"

"What? What is it Izzy?"

"All of us were transported here via through the mirror, correct?"

The answer came in nods.

"So, if mirrors brought us into this world, then mirrors could send us back to the real world!"

"Really, Izzy? Prodigious!" exclaimed Tai.

"Hey, that's my line…"

"S-sorry…"

"But Izzy, how are we supposed to find the mirrors?" asked Kari, "If we go back to the city to search, our clones are sure to kill us…"

"Yeah, and not to mention that they have our digivices," T.K. added, "And we can't leave without them, I mean, what if the Digital World was in peril again and our digimon couldn't stand up to the task because they couldn't digivolve…"

Matt watched in silence as the others went on chatting about their means of escaping.

What's the deal? Why haven't they chewed him out yet? Or were they just waiting to kick him down when he least expected it?

His chest panged with guilt.

_I'm the reason why we're here and why those things are after us in the first place. T.K. doesn't believe it so, what is everyone else waiting for? _

The guilty feeling in his heart soon gave way to a new feeling: an **ominous **feeling.

The wind had stopped blowing some time ago, and a foreboding aura filled the atmosphere. Matt felt his pulse begin to quicken, beads of perspiration formed on his forehead, his arms covered with goose bumps.

He didn't want to cause any alarm to the other seven, so he put on his best effort to act as calm as possible, but the reserved mask he always wore was starting to fall apart.

The group didn't seem to notice that their cool-headed loner was becoming more and more tenacious. They continued on talking out their ideas and plans, but Matt heard nothing. It was as if a sound-proof barrier was shutting him out.

_I-it's just nerves…only the nerves…even though I don't even know what the plan is…I know it'll work! I've got to stay calm…stay calm…_

"Matt, are you alright?"

"H-huh? W-what?"

"I said, 'are you alright?'" Tai repeated, scowling in annoyance, "Since you haven't said a thing since we've been here, do you remember the plan?"

Matt didn't answer.

Tai groaned, "Ugh, here we are trapped in a weird realm, with killer clones at our heels, we barely managed to escape them, then we come up with a genius plan, and you just stand there like a halfwit!"

"Leave him alone, Tai!" T.K. said, "Matt's been through enough pressure already!"

He shot a quick glance at his older brother, his expression changing to concern.

_Matt looks really pale…then again, he has been on the edge lately…_

Just then, something darted out of nowhere and lunged at Matt, pinning him to the ground.

When the Digidestined ran to help their friend, they too were attacked. Their necks bound in a headlock, with one arm pulled behind their backs.

_T-the copies? _Tai thought as he twisted and turned in his counterpart's hold, _I didn't think they'd find us so quickly!_

Matt struggled to fight his clone off of him, but this only angered it. Then, Matt suddenly felt his double's skeletal hands wrap around his throat with his breathing starting to cut off.

"_This is what you get for injuring me!" _the evil twin sneered, _"You're lucky because you get to die FIRST! Don't worry; your friends will get to watch __**every second**__ of it." _

The suffocation grew unbearable, Matt started kicking and scratching blindly with a free hand at his attacker, but this lead to more compression to his air supply.

Matt peered into his doppelganger's face, his scream turned into a choked gasp.

"_I see that you remember now…" _the look-alike said, baring his fangs in the shape of a crazed grin, _"It was __**I **__who tried to strangle you __**twice**__ that night! That was no nightmare!"_

He then lifted a clawed hand above his head.

"_Now, I finally have my chance!"_

The hand dove down.

"_**DIE!**__"_

A sudden flash of light began to glow, blinding the clones with its purity.

"_W-where is this light coming from?" _one of them yelled, trying to hold onto its victim and shielding its eyes.

"_It's the digivices!" _shouted another, _"But their pets are nowhere near them! Then how-"_

They were losing grip on their human counterparts, whose bodies were now washed over with the same light. Then, a powerful force struck the clones with great strength, knocking them backwards, effectively releasing their hold.

Screaming in scorching pain, the doppelgangers dissolved into nothingness as they were swallowed up by the light.

The eight digivices shined even brighter than before and so did their owners.

White light as bright as the sun, illuminated the entire area in a sea of light, glowing brighter and brighter that no shadow could not be cast.

…

Matt felt something cold on his forehead as he started to wake up.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he was lying in bed, at home, back in the real world.

_I'm…back….And that means…_

At that moment, his father came into the room.

"You really scared me there, Matt." He said, pulling up a chair to his son's bed, "when I saw your indoor slippers lying next to the new mirror, I thought that you might have been kidnapped or something, until I found you sprawled on the bathroom floor."

Matt stared at his dad, confused.

"You were running a high fever when I found you," explained Hiroaki, removing the wet washcloth from Matt's forehead, "but it looks like it's gone down a bit since you have more color in your face."

"W-what about the new mirror?" Matt asked surprised by how feeble he sounded.

"I put it back in its box, having a new one wasn't worth it so I'm having that thing sent back to the store tomorrow...but don't worry, son, I'm still ordering us take-out! I'll do it right away!"

Hiroaki got up and left the room, leaving Matt alone with only his thoughts to keep him company.

Then, a new thought crept into his mind. He got out of bed and looked at himself in his dresser mirror.

Only his reflection stared back at him. It didn't have red eyes, or fangs or claws, it was just his image.

His own image.

Smiling in relief that he and other Digidestined had vanquished this evil and returned home safely, Matt yawned and went back to bed, slipping off into an easy sleep.

-The End.

…

**Author's Note:** I hope you have enjoyed this little macabre tale…I originally wanted to post it on Halloween but things got in the way…Tell me what do think by reviewing, thanks!


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